Composition building material



COMPOSITION BUILDING MATERIAL Original Filed March 19, 1929 INI/ENTOR.

ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 11, 1934 lUNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE 1,984,218 COMPO SITIONBUILDING MATERIAL Lester Kirschbraun, Leonia, N. J., assignor, 'by

mesne assignments, to The Patent and Licensing Corporation, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Original application March 19, 1929, Serial No. 348,297. Divided-and this application August 14, 1931, Serial No. 557,032

17 Claims.

proved method of making composition building Gil material which can, by suitable cutting operations, be formed into shingles or strips for roofingpurposes, or into boards for siding, etc.

Proposals have heretofore been made for manufacturing roofing material composed of plastic Waterproofing material such as asphalt combined with hardening and other ingredients. These suggestions have generally been directed towards the productions of the roofing in the form of a core of the hardened plastic material enclosed between jackets or facing sheets of fibrous material such as saturated felt or the like. A product of this character, however, is quite costly, for although the core itself can be made from relatively inexpensive material, the cost of the Whole is greatly increased by the, cost of the felt facing sheets. Furthermore, observations of roong material of this type, when subjected to actual weather conditions, indicate that it is open to certain objections, chief of which is the tendency of the jackets or facing sheets to separate or delaminate in time from the core material, with the result that the facing sheets stand oif from the core andlend a very unsightly appearance to the roof.

I have found that where hardened plastic material of bituminous nature is employed as the roong base, there is no real need for having facing sheets extending entirely over both faces of the core for the reason that' the hardcned plastic material if partially reinforced, is capable of sustaining its form during handling as well as when applied on a roofing under actual Weather conditions. Thus, by omitting the facing sheets from at least the weather exposed portions of the roong, the cost of the product is materially reduced, the tendency towards delamination is eliminated and the possibility of an unsightly roof is avoided. Furthermore, by omitting facing material from the weather exposed portions as well as from the unexposed areas of the uppermost face of the roofing, there is the additional advantage that when the product is applied to the roof there will ensue, in time, an effective sealing action between overlying elements by virtue of the fact that the heat *of the Lsun will render the elements suilciently adhesive to permit union between adjacent contacting surfaces, particularly `nails pass is properly reinforced.

(Cl. S-8) when one or both of these contacting surfaces are provided with a superficial layer of asphalt or similar adhesive Waterproof coating material,

to thus aid in holding the exposed portions in intimate contact with the underlying surface.

Although there are certain disadvantages from a practical point of view, to jackets or facing sheets affixed to the exposed` portions of the roofing, as above pointed out, it is nevertheless desirable to provide a portion of at least one of the faces of the product with facing material, formed with a tapering cross-section resembling that of wooden shingles. lIn forming tapered elements, the upper or thinner ends thereof are generally more exible or pliable than the lower or thicker ends thereof and the relatively limp character of the upper portions of the elements renders them rather diicult to handle, unless provision be made for reinforcing the upper thin ends so as to compensate at least to some extent for their otherwise limp character. Furthermore, there is some tendency of the plastic material "at the thinner areas of the elements to sag, particularly in the region of and immediately around the securing nails passing therethrough. On account of this tendency of the plastic material to sag about the nail holes, there is likelihood of the shingle pulling away in time from its holding nails, unless the portion of the shingle through which the securing It'is also desirable, `in the processing of the shingle, to employ a sheet of fibrous material to act as a carrier for the plastic material during at least the earlier formative stage thereof.

Accordingly, I have concluded that roong of this type may be improved and the cost thereof considerably lessenedA by providing reinforcing sheets to extend over the upper portion of either the under or upper face of the element, or both.

My object, therefore, is to produce roofing material having the entire thickness of its exposed portions@ built up of hardened plastic material, and having the unexposed portions thereof formed partly of hardened plastic material and partly of a layer or layers of fibrous felt preferably saturated with waterproofing material, and adapted to" reenforce the unexposed portions of the roofing for the purposes above mentioned, the fibrous felt thus employed as a reinforce serving also as a carrier for the plastic material during its formative stages.

In carrying my invention into practise, one face of a strip or web of fibrous material such particularly where the element is y as saturated felt is supplied with a relatively thick layer of plastic material, and the web carrying the plastic material is then subjected to pressure, preferably by passing the web and its overlying layer of plastic through a series of pressure applying stages, adapted to act upon the plastic material in such a way that portions thereof are gradually forced outwardly in a lateral direction beyond the marginal edges of the fibrous web and if desired, the portions thus transferred beyond the marginal edges may be acted upon so as to cause them to assume a'. cross-section of gradually increasing thickness towards the lateral extremities thereof. After the mass of plastic has been thus extended sidewise and compacted to the desired extent, the sheet may be slitted longitudinally and preferably through the center thereof so as to form two separate sections, each section being composed of plastic material for the greater portion of the widthwise extent thereof, and having its remaining portions occupied by a strip of fibrous material having an adherent layer of plastic material or by plastic material of reduced crosssection interposed between strips of fibrous material. From the separate sections thus produced, shingles or shingle strips, or the like, may be formed by severing the sections transversely thereof at intervals corresponding to the width of elements desired.

Where the pressure for forming the plastic mass into desired shape is applied in successive stages, so as to force the plastic material gradually outwardly beyond the marginal edges of the fibrous web the plastic layer thus gradually built up beyond the marginal edges of the fibrous web, takes on a more or less rough and uneven configuration, and inasmuch as these marginal l.edges are adapted to form the exposed butt edges of roong elements cut from the sheet, these butt edges, when the elements areU laid` up on a roof, present a very desirable uneven outline increasing the shadow-casting possibilities thereof and enhancing the appearance of the roof as `a whole.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the description to follow and from the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation, of an arrangement of mechanism that may be employed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view illustrating the progress, through several stages of material as treated by my invention;

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective, illustrating the appearance of the material at several stages;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section through one form of roofing element that may be produced according to my invention.

Figure 5 is a transverse section through another form of roong element that may be made according to my invention.

In carrying out the invention in its preferred form, a continuous web of fibrous material S,

such as asphaltA saturated felt, is fed horizontally from av convenient supply, as for example a roll thereof, over a table or othersupport, and a mass of plastic material is superimposed over the travelling web so as to form a layer of substantial thickness and of ra width substantially equal to that of the web. The plastic material employed in accordance with the process, is composed of a homogeneous mass of bitumen of any suitable degree of hardness, bers of any desired kind, and mineral or other types of filler the composition of the mix being such that it is plastic at elevated temperatures and when cooled to normal temperatures sets to a hard non-brittle, more or less rigid structure. The ingredients are mixed and agitated in any form of apparatus suitable for the purpose, the agitation being continued until the required or desired degree of homogeneity is secured. The plastic mass may, with considerable advantage, be produced by macerating and agitating roofing waste such as usually accumulates at a roofing plant, other ingredients being mixed with the waste, when necessary or desirable, in order to form the mass of desired composition and consistency. A plastic mass made from roofing scrap will ordinarily contain about l5 to 20% brous material, 55 to 60% of asphalt of a melting point between- 100 and 200 F., and about 25 to 35% mineral matter in the form of slate dust, mica, crushed slate or the like. According to my present invention, I prefer to compound with the above constituents about of gilsonite in order to increase the hardness and rigidity of the structure while precluding any substantial brittleness therein.

After the plastic mix has been conditioned to the required consistency, it may then be sheeted in any convenient way and applied to the trav- -elling' web of saturated felt. Advantageously,

the plastic material may be extruded under pressure through dies so shaped as to form the material into a continuous sheet of desired thickness of a width corresponding substantially to that of the web S, the extrusion mechanism being located in proximity to the web so that the extruded length of plastic material may be applied to a face of the web directly as the former emerges from the extruding device. The plastic mass may also, if desired be calendered on to the web S by means of calender rolls or other suitable mechanism. Since the plastic mass is in warm and adhesive condition when brought into contact with the web S, there is suicient adhesion between the two to enable the plastic to become securely affixed to the web so that the latter may serve as a carrier for the plastic in the further operations thereon.

In Fig. 3, I have shown (near the lower end thereof) the plastic material P as lt appears when rst united to the web S, at which stage, as already noted, the web and the layer of plastic are substantially equal in width. The remaining portions of Fig. 3, indicate the effects produced in subsequent formative stages of the material when operated upon in accordance with the preferred form of invention for forcing portions of the 'plastic material laterally so` as to transfer the'same to positions beyond the marginal edges of the web S.

In order to accomplish the aforegoing, ac cording to the preferred mode of operation, the

vweb carrying the plastic cn its upper face is fed over a series of horizontal bed rolls journalled idly in suitable framework 21.

Mounted above the bed rolls 20, and supported from suitable framework 22, are a number cf series of aligned pressure rolls 23, 24, 25, the intermediate series being arranged axially parallel with the bed rolls 20, and the series 23 and 25 being preferably arranged with their axes at an angle y.to the horizontal so as to taper the plastic material laterally along spaced zones, as shown. The rclls of the intermediate series 24, are also preferably arranged in staggered relation with respect to those of series 23 and 25 inthe direction of forward travel of the web, the inner ends of rolls 23 and 25 slightly overlapping the adjacent outer ends of the intermediate series 24. The pressure rolls of the several series are fixed to shafts 23a, 24a, 25a; respectively, journalled individually in bearings 23h, 24h, 25h formed integrally with brackets 27 which depend from supporting members 28 of the frameworkf 22. Suitable drive connections 29 are fixed to one end of each of the several shafts so as to drive the pressure rolls at any desired speed. In order` to provide for gradually increasing the pressure upon the plastic material as it passes beneath successive rolls, the shafts of succeeding rolls in each series may be mounted above the bed rolls 20 at vertical distances decreasing by slight increments in the direction of forward travel of the web. If desired, also, the supporting members carrying the bearing brackets 27`may be oatingly mounted under tension of springs 30 or othertensioning means, -whereby the pressure imposed on the plastic material is gradually increased in the progressive forward movement 4.transfer quantities of the plastic material later- 'ally beyond the margins of the web, where the plastic material will accumulate and be obuilt up to required shape by the series of rolls 23, 25 as the pressure centrally of the vweb increases, the operation thus serving gradually to reduce the plastic material overlying the web and gradually to extend the width of the sheet of plastic for considerable distances beyond the marginal edges of the web, as clearly illustrated in the drawing. In thus gradually transferring the plastic material sidewise, the marginal edges thereof, under the action of the lateral series of press rolls, will be formed in more or less uneven outline, so that when shingies or other elements are severed from the finished sheet, the lower or butt edges thereof will present a desirable rough or irregular appearance. This rough or irregular contour of the butt-edge of the shingle contributes the desirable shadow-casting effect when/the finished shingles are laid on the roof. Moreover, when the shingles are treated with molten asphalt lfor face coating and edge sealing the portions obviously depend`upon the thickness of the plastic layer desired and the degree to which it shall be extended laterally.

After the sheet has passed beyond the last pressure stage, it may be coated on one or both surfaces thereof with a layer of molten asphalt,

through itsV median line to form two strips or sections. From the separate sections formed by the slitting operation, shingles, shingle strips,

or other elements of desired width may be produced by severing the sections transversely thereof along desired line.

If desired, also, the separation of shingles or shingle strips may precede the coating and surfacing operations. In this case, the separated elements may then be coated with asphalt or the like on one or bothfaces thereof or..on one or both faces of the exposed portions thereof,

as by immersing the elements to the desired depth in a bath of the coating material, and subsequently applying comminuted or granular surfacing material, of any desired character and color, to the coated areas of the elements. Shingles as thus produced are illustrated in the cross-sectional view of Fig. 4. As there shown, the mastic layer P is of tapered -cross-section with the felt reinforcing sheet S attached to the upper part of the lower face of the element and with a layer 40 of waterproof coating material completely surrounding the lower or exposed surfaces and edges of the element including the lower portions of the felt reinforcement S, and crushed, mineral surfacing material partially imbedded in the coating layer.

While I have described as a preferred embodiment of the invention, an operation in which the plastic material forming the main body of the product, is transferred beyond the marginal edges of) the web by subjecting the plastic material overlying the web to a plurality of successively increasing pressure stages, it should be apparent that the ldesired results may be attained by shaping the plastic material in al suitable form of at press or mould. This type of operation however, does not lend itself to continuous operation and is accordingly not as face only thereof, it will be obvious, that where a product carrying facing sheets on portions of both faces thereof, as illustrated in Figure 5 is desired, another' web S1 may be supplied so-as to overlie the layer of plastic material P. The overlying web may be supplied either immediately after the plastic material has been deposited on the web S, or at any convenient sub- (sequent stage of the operation. The overlying web may be of the same width as web S, in which case, obviously, the completed product will have -the facing sheets on opposite faces thereof equally dimensioned, or, the overlying web may be narrow or wider than web S, in which case, the facing sheet on one face of the finished product will extend a greater distance from the upper edge thereof than does the sheet on the opposite facethereof. In the last named op-y eration, the width of the sheets will preferably I portion of material, which is plastic at elevated temperatures but substantially hard at normal temperatures, comprising bitumen, fiber, and inert filler and a reenforcing layer of felted brous material aixed to the upper part of one face only of the body portion.

2. A composite shingle comprising a main body portion of material, which is plastic at elevated temperatures but substantially hard at normal temperatures consisting of bitumen, fibre and mineral filler and a reenforcing layer of felted fibrous material aiixed to the upper part of one face only of the body portion.

3. A composite shingle comprising a main body portion of material, which is plastic at elevated temperatures but substantially hard at normal temperatures consisting of bitumen, breand mineral ller and a reenforcing layer of felted fibrous material aixed to the upper part of the exposed face of the body portion.

4. A composite shingle comprising a main body portion of material, which is plastic at elevated temperatures but substantially hard at normal temperatures consisting of bitumen, bre and mineral ller and a reenforcing layer of felted brous material aixed to the upperl part of the upper and lower faces of the body porion.

5. A composite shingle comprising a main body portion of material, which is plastic at elevated temperatures but substantially hard at normal temperatures consisting of bitumen, ibre and mineral ller, a reenforcing layer of felted fibrous material ailixed` to the upper part of one face only of the body portion, a layer of weatherproof coating material overlying the exposed portion of the upper face of the body. and mineral surfacing partially embedded in said layerof coating.

6. A composite shingle comprising a main body portion of material, which is plastic at elevated temperatures but substantially hard at normal temperatures consisting of bitumen, fibre and mineral iller, a reenforcing layer of felted fibrous material aixed to the upper part of the exposed face of the body portion, a layer of weatherproof coating material overlying the exposed portion of the upper face of the body yand mineral surfacing partially embedded i said layer of coating.

7. rA composite shingle comprising a main body portion of material, which is plastic at elevated temperatures but substantially hard at normal temperatures consisting of bitumen, fibre and mineral filler, a reenforcing layer of felted fibrous material aflxed to the upper part of the upper and lower faces of the body portion, a layer of weatherproof coating material overlying the exposed portion of the upper face of the bodyA and mineral surfacing partially embedded in said layer of coating.

8. A composite shingle comprising a main body portion of material, which is plastic at eleraciale vated temperatures but substantially hard at normal temperatures consisting of bitumen, fibre and mineral filler, a reenforcing layer of felted fibrous material aflixed to the upper part of one face only of the body portion, a layer of weatherproof coating material overlying the .lower portion of the upper and lower faces of the body and mineral surfacing partially embedded in said layer of coating.

9. A composite shingle comprising a main body portion of material, which is plastic at elevated temperatures but substantially hard at normal temperatures consisting of bitumen, fibre and mineral filler, a reenforcing layer of felted fibrous material aflixed to the upper part of the exposed face of the body portion, a layer of Weatherproof coating material overlying the lower portion of the upper and lower faces of the body, and mineral surfacing partially embedded in said layer of coating.

- 10. A composite shingle comprising a main body portion of material, which is plastic at elevated temperatures but substantially hard at normal temperatures consisting of bitumen, bre and mineral filler, a reenforcing layer of felted fibrous material aixed to the upper part of the upper and lower faces of the body portion, a. layer of weatherproof coating material overlying the lower portion of the upper and lower faces of the body, and mineral surfacing partially embedded in said layer of coating.

11. A composite shingle comprising a main body portion of material, which is plastic at elevated temperatures but substantially hard at normal temperatures consisting of bitumen, bre and mineral ller, a reenforcing layer of felted brous material axed to the upper part of one face only of the body portion, a layer of weatherproof coating material overlying the lower portion of the upper and lower faces of the body and mineral surfacing partially embedded in said layer of coating, the coating layer on the lower face overlapping the lower extremity of said reenforcing layer.

12. A composite shingle comprising a main body portion of material, which is plastic at elevated temperatures but substantially hard at normal temperatures consisting of bitumen, fibre and mineral ller, a reenforcing layer of felted brous material affixed to'the upper part of the exposed face of the body portion, a layer of weatherproof coating material overlying the lower portion of the upper and lower faces of the body and mineral surfacing partially embedded in said layer of coating, the coating layer on the lower face overlapping the lower extremity of said reenforcing layer.

13. A composite shingle comprising a main body portion of material, which is plastic at elevated temperatures but substantially hard at normal temperatures consisting of bitumen, bre and mineral filler, a reenforcing layer of felt/ed brous material ailixed to the upper part of the upper and lower faces of the body portion, a layer of weatherproof coating material overlying the lower portion of the upper and lower faces of the body, and mineral surfacing partially embedded in said layer of coating, the coating layer on the lower face overlapping the lower extremity of said reenforcing layer on the lower face of the body portion.

14. A composite shingle comprising a main body portion of material, which is plastic at elevated temperatures but substantially hard at normal temperatures consisting of bitumen, fibre and mineral filler, a reenforcing layer of felted fibrous material aixed to the upper part of one face only of the body portion,a layer of weatherproof coating material overlying the exposed portion of a faceof the body and the butt edge thereof, and mineral surfacing partially ernbedded in said layer of coating.

15. A composite shingle comprising a main body portion of material, which is plastic at elevated temperatures but substantially hard at normal temperatures consisting of bitumen, fibre and mineral ller, a reenforcing layer of felted fibrous material aixed to the upper part of the exposed face of the body portion, a layer of Weatherproof coating material overlying the exposed portion of a face of the body and the butt edge thereof, and mineral surfacing partially embedded in said layer of coating.

16.v A composite shingle comprising a main body portion of material, which is plastic at elevated temperatures but substantially hard at normal temperatures consisting of bitumen, nbre and mineral ller, a reenforcing layer of felted.

brous material alxed to the upper part of the upper and lower faces of the body portion, a

layer of weatherproof coating material overlying the exposed portion of a face of/the body and the butt edge thereof, and mineral surfacing partially embedded 'in said layer of coating.

17. A composite shingle comprising a body composed of material, which is plastic at ele' vated temperatures but substantially hard at normal temperatures consisting of bitumen, nbre and mineral ller having its butt edge formed into an uneven contour, a layer of weatherproof coating material overlying the exposed portion of a Aface of the body and said butt edge, mineral surfacing partially embedded in said layer of coating, and a reenforcing layer of felted mate rial aixed to the upper part of one face of the body portion.

LESTER KIRSCHBRAUN. 

